Conventional toothpaste tubes are generally not provided with any means for easily storing such tubes when they are not being used. Furthermore, the closure cap for the tube frequently becomes lost. It has become conventional to store toothpaste tubes in relatively inaccessible locations, such as in medicine cabinets, on a shelf, or even on the side edge of the lavatory. This results in valuable storage space being expended, as well as placing the toothpaste tube in a location somewhat removed from the toothbrushes, which are usually suspended on a rack near the medicine cabinet. A more advantageous place to store toothpaste tubes would be afforded by a rack arrangement which further provides for closure of the tube, and for the storage of tooth brushes.
The prior art is replete with various hangable tube devices, which comprise, for example, supporting elements in the form of brackets, eyes, rings, tethers and the like. However, these devices have met with only limited success, for in the most part they comprise elements which must be attached to the tube, either at its crimped end or adjacent the dispensing nozzle, or in some combination with the closure cap. In these known devices, quite often the supporting member itself ruptures the tube while it is being applied or while in use. In addition, substantially all of the known devices require a particular member affixed to a wall from which the tube is hung.
As is known, tubes for toothpaste and the like typically include a substantially cylindrical tubular body portion, one end of which is sealed by the conventional method of folding and crimping, and the other involving a relatively rigid shoulder portion of generally conical configuration, that terminates in a nozzle portion from which the contents of the tube may be dispensed. Since preparations normally packaged in tubes of this type ordinarily find their principal environment in the bathroom of the home, provisions are made in the form of medicine chests or cabinets within which such devices and other supplies are normally stored. In most instances shelf space in such cabinets is quite limited, and certain ones of the articles frequently must be removed from the cabinet prior to gaining access to the desired one. It is therefore highly desirable that the toothpaste tube be stored in such a manner as to afford a maximum ease of use, while at the same time occupying a minimum of shelf space.